Publishing content for profit isn’t terribly difficult to do these days, thanks (in large part) to services like Google’s AdSense. Even with a small amount of traffic, you can quickly pay for certain monthly bills (namely, your ISP) within a relatively short amount of time - as long as the accompanying advertisements match contextually. We had ‘em running throughout our sites for several months, and they definitely provided a steady stream of revenue. Then, when I was faced with having to hire yet another internal salesperson for us, Joel voluntarily stepped in and turned on the light. He made a couple of small suggestions and the results were immediate. Google AdSense is an absolute godsend. So much, in fact, that I’ve taken to helping friends and close business associates adjust their own deployment to maximize their return. As far as I’m concerned, there has never been an easier way to venture down the road of free content publishing - especially from home. Enterprising individuals no longer have to wait to assemble a team of smart folks before developing a wise business model. Letting open inventory slip through one’s fingers is a lamentable situation. Again, AdSense comes to the rescue - even going as far as to power your entire site’s search feature (which is likely far better than anything you might already be providing in-house). There’s certainly nothing wrong with being “in it” as a hobby, but even the most passionate people will duck out when overwhelming finances creep into the picture. Enter Google AdSense.

If nothing else, then take today’s note as a wake-up call. Too many people are missing out on tremendous (automatic) opportunities - largely because they’re (a) unaware of the option; or (b) not implementing the option as well as they could be. Unless you’re under some strange contract or getting your Web space for free, you’re in control of what sits on those pages. We’re already offering you the ability to share our content with your visitors, but why not take the next step and remove the hassle of near-instant monetization? Once you’ve decided to roll with Google AdSense, then it’s time to start tweaking the code. Yes, there are plenty of tips and tricks that will help you optimize the integration - and most of ‘em are so incredibly logical that they’re easily overlooked. I started to compose an e-book a few weeks ago, filled with all of my secrets, but inevitably put it on hold. I’ll pick up the editing pencil once we’re well past Gnomedex and the Tutorials library is open for business again. Don’t wait for further instruction, however. You have my full encouragement to pass Go (and hopefully collect much more than two hundred dollars in the process). Understand, too, that AdSense is not the same as AdWords; AdSense is for publishers, while AdWords (placed within the AdSense network) is for advertisers. This, bud, is for you.